Locking fastener



y 1944- G. A. TINNERMAN 7 2,353,796

LOCKING FASTENER Qriginal Filed Oct. 21, 1941 /0 W J\ A? l a 4 a Ha. Z

IN V EN TOR. 62 9x6514. Duuumu m'mmvni thereof Patented July 18, 1944 UNlTED STATES PATENT ornce LOCKING FASTENER George A. Tinnerman, Cleveland, Ohio, assignor to Tinnerman Products, Inc., Cleveland, Ohio, a corporation of Ohio Application October 21, 1941, Serial No. 415,969, which is a division of application Serial No. 366,472, November 20, 1940. Divided and this application November 13, 1943, Serial No.

More particularly, the invention is directed to a spring clip fastener which may be constructed in different forms for various applications and uses, but in any case, is adapted to provide a positive locked securing action in a work aperture and otherwise reliably fasten the parts of an assembly under continuously effective spring tension against loosening or displacement even under extreme conditions of shock, vibratory motion, and the like.

The present invention involves an arrangement for fastening a member to a support by means of a clip on the member which may pass through an opening in the support and retain spring engagement therewith, the partsbeing so arranged that the mere positioning of the article on the support does not of itself complete the fastening action, and thus enables very accurate positioning of the parts before fastening is effected. Then when the clip .is diverted from its normal position, its reaction causes it to obtain a spring hold on the support in the manner to lock the parts fixedly and rigidly together.

A principal object ofthe invention, therefore, is to provide an improved fastening means of this character which may be provided for various types of installations and embodying'a clip shank construction that is intendedto be forcibly applied to positive locked engagement in a work aperture following the assembly of the parts of the installation in exact, predetermined relation, and further, to secure the parts in such relation under continuously effective spring tension against loosening, displacement or disassociation.

A further object of the invention is to Provide a .spring'fastener construction of the kind de- 5 Claims. (Cl. 85-5) fastening position in said aperture and locked therein against withdrawal .or reverse movement tending toward loosening or separation of the members of the assembly.

Another, more specific, object of the invention is to provide various forms of such fastening means in the manner of simple, one-piece, sheet metal clip devices which are cheap and inexpensive to provide and lend themselves to economical quantity production in that they may be produced at relatively low cost from ordinary sheet metal strip stock with litttle loss or waste of material.

Further objects and advantages, and other new and useful features in the construction, arrangement and general combination of parts of the invention will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art as a description thereof proceeds with reference to the accompanying drawing, for purposes of illustration but not of limitation, in which like reference characters designate like parts throughout the same, and in which:

Fig. 1" is a vertical sectional view of an instal lation in accordance with the invention embody v parts A, B, may be secured in generally normal relation to each other by a simple, inexpensive form of the fastener such as shown in Fig. 3, for example. The part A represents the support which is usually in the form of a panel, or the like, arid is provided with an opening a for receiving the shank or holding portion of th fastener as shown-in Fig. l. The part B designates the secured portion of any article or object to be fastened to the support A in generally normal relation thereto and locked against shifting, displacement or disassociation of said parts from assembled relation.

The fastener in this form of the invention, designated generally in, Fig. 3, is a simply formed.

inexpensive device which may be. constructed of any suitable sheet metal material, preferably spring metal or cold rolled metal having springlike characteristics. The device may be formed from blanks of various outlines, of course, but

from a quantity production standpoint, is most advantageously provided from a comparatively small, generally rectangular blank which may be obtained from ordinary sheet metal strip stock with little loss or waste of material.

The metal strip is provided of a width to be received in the opening a in the support and is bent to define a shank or holding portion comprising a leg II and tongue I2 or similar yieldable element integrally united therewith at the leading end thereof. The extremity of the tongue 12 presents a locking shoulder which normally lies a distance from said leg member ll greater than the size of said opening a in the support and includes one or more anchoring points or teeth It provided thereon in any suitable manner. The substantial mid-portion of the strip adjacent said shank leg H is formed into a return bend defining a U-shaped connecting portion comprising spaced, generally parallel and relatively yieldable arms ll, II, the latter of which extends from said shank leg II in the same general direction as said tongue or yieldable locking element I2. Said upper arm It has the outer free end portion thereof bent to provide an attaching portion ll.

As shown in Fig. 1, the fastener thus provided is united to the part or object B through said attaching portion I! by any suitable means such as rivets I8 or equivalent screws, welding, or the like attaching means. The fastener is accordingly so attached to part B, that in the assembled relation thereof -on part A, the leading end of shank leg II is received in the opening a without the extremity of the yieldable tongue element i2 passing entirely through said opening. In this respect, the lower edge of part B firmly and rigidly rests upon the adjacent surface of the support. The shank leg ll engages the opposite wall of said opening as the cooperating yieldable tongue element I2 is compressed toward said leg when received in said opening in the initial application of the fastener shank thereto, as shown in Fig. 1. In this initial juxtapositioning of the parts A and B, they are disposed in their predetermined properly assembled relation with the arm II and tongue I! of. the fastener in the opening, before the locking shoulder defined bythe extremity of the tongue has cleared the opening. When it does clear the opening, consequent upon the shoving down of the lower arm of the U bend. the enc s n end ll of the tongue springs into position beneath the support, as shown at the right in.

Fig. 1 without changing the location of the arm ii against the back of the opening.

The arm I! of the U-shaped connecting portion of the fastener is more or less rigidly disposed with respect to part B by the attaching portion l1 while the cooperating'relatively yieldable arm I! carries the shank leg H in a man-.

ner whereby said shank may be easily and quickly actuated in a generally axial direction to project the tongue I2 thereof through the opening a in part, B to substantially the position shown atv the right in Fig. 1. This can be effected by any suitable tool applied to the yieldable arm H but preferably by a device embodying a substantial pin P which may be pushed against cooperating relatively yieldably arm N in such a manner that the shank leg carried thereby is easily and quickly actuatedin a generally axial direction a distance suiiicient for the extremity of ton ue II to clear the opening. Said tongue Ills thereupon free to spring outwardly to its normal untensionedreiation wherein the extremity thereof extends beyond the edges of the opening and defines a shoulder adapted to positively en age the adjacent rearward face of the support A as shown in Fig. 1.

This locking fastener embodies an advantageous construction which is particularly suited for detachably securing a hollow container, or the like, to a supporting part without an unsightly or otherwise objectionable projecting relation of the fasteners externally of the containerh In the present example, a condenser can B, of the type commonly used in radio apparatus, for instance, is shown positioned on the supporting panel A and provided with a plurality of spaced locking fasteners designed to be attached to the interior walls of the container with the shank legs H thereof extending outwardly of the container in position to be easily and quickly applied to correspondingly spaced openings (1 in said panel A.

The container is thus provided with fastening means in a manner whereby the same may be assembled on the supporting panel A with the shanks of the fasteners, as shown to the left in Fig. 1, being received in the openings at but without the extremities of the tongues l2 thereof passing through said openings. The container is thereby capable of being accurately and precisely positioned on the supporting panel prior to the operation by which theshanks of the fasteners are actuated to locked relation in the openings therein, as shown to the right in Fig. 1, upon application of the tool to the external abutment H of each fastener. In this relation, the locking action of the tongues 12, and the operation of the fasteners in general, is as described and inasmuch as the shank legs II are adapted to engage the respective outer walls of the openings 0 in opposing'relation to each other, the container B or other similar object is fixedly and rigidly secured against any possible shifting or displacement from its proper assembled re lation on the supporting panel, even under conditions of shock, vibratory motion, and the like.

I claim:

1. A locking f astener for securing an object or part to a supportin part through an opening in said supporting part, said fastener including a strip of metal having a bent portion providing a securing shank receivable in said opening in the supporting part, a resilient spring arm connected to said shank and extending at an angle thereto through a recess in said object to support said shank on one side of said object for substantially axial movement to final applied fastening position in said opening in the supporting part,'and means connected to said spring side of said object.

2. A locking fastener for securing an object or part to a supporting part through an opening in said supporting part, said fastener including a strip of resilient material having a bent portion providing a securing shank receivable in said opening in the supporting part, an arm connected to said shank and extending at an angle thereto through arecess in said object, a second arm connected to the arm first mentioned by a return bend and means to secure said second arm to the object to support said shank on one side of said object for substantially axial movement to final applied fastenin position in said opening in the supporting part.

3. A locking fastener for securing a' hollow object to asupporting part through an opening asssnos to a supporting part through an opening in said supporting part, said fastener including a strip of resilient material having a bent portion providing a securing shank receivable in said opening in the supporting part, an arm connected to said shank and extending at an angle thereto through a recess in said object, a shorter arm connected by a return bend to the arm first mentioned, and means connected to said shorter arm for attaching the fastener to said object.

5. A locking fastener for securing an object to asupporting part comprising a strip of resilient material having a shank adapted to extend through an opening and carrying an inclined free end portion adapted to engage the supporting part, said fastener having a return bend with on arm longer than the other, the longer arm being connected to .said shank and the shorter arm having a lip by which it may be secured to the object, the longer arm of the fastener extending through a recess in the object.

(moms: A. 'I'INNERMAN. 

